Chapter 7
HUMAN MEMORY
Engage:
What does a U.S. penny look like?
Fig. 7-1, p. 259
U.S. Penny
 What’s the matter? Haven’t you ever seen a
penny before?
 Why can’t you remember what a penny looks
like?
Answer: Left top
corner (the first one)
Human Memory: Basic Questions
 How does information get into memory?
 How is information maintained in memory?
 How is information pulled back out of
memory?
The Analogy
Encoding=keyboard
Figure 7.2 Three key processes in memory
Explore:
[Packet] Memory Demo
 Title the activity “Memory Demo.
 View “Memory Demo” slide show while
focusing on each slide.
 Reproduce as many of the letter
combinations as possible on your page.
 Answer the following question : Why did you
remember certain letter combinations but
not others? What makes things easier to
remember?
 Let’s view it again!
 Again, write down as many as you remember!
 Circle the fragments that end up on both lists.
 Underline the fragments that you forgot the 2nd time.
 Squiggle the NEW ones on your 2nd list .
 Count the number of fragments on each list.
 Answer this question: How did viewing the
show a second time impact your ability to
remember certain letter combinations? Why?
An interesting intro to
encoding . . .
 Extraordinary people - Synaesthetes
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvMs0Nl
8iSE
 How do our senses influence the
effectiveness of our memory?
[Packet] Memory Encoding
 What significance do the following topics have in making
your memory function? Write a few sentences to describe
each one. You may draw pictures if that helps you. Use
the specified figures and pgs. 262-266 to help you.
1. Attention and filters (early vs late). Figure 7.3.
2. Levels of processing. Address all 3. Figures 7.4
and 7.5.
3. Elaboration. Figure 7.6.
4. Visual imagery. Figure 7.7.
5. Self-referent encoding (no figure)
Encoding: Getting Information Into
Memory
 Step #1: The role of attention
 Focusing awareness on a narrowed range of stimuli
or events.
 Selective attention = selection of input or FILTER
 The filter screens out most stimuli, while allowing a select
few to get by.
 Filtering: early or late?
 BOTH!!!
 Early: Police officers have to move quickly from one stimulus to
another in a life-or-death situation.
 Late: Cocktail Party Phenomenon: Sometimes you are paying
attention to someone talking with you at a party, and you
suddenly hear your name from across the room.
Figure 7.3 Models of selective attention
Levels of Processing:
Craik and Lockhart (1972)
 Incoming information processed at different levels
 Deeper processing = longer lasting memory codes
 Encoding levels:
 Structural= shallow
 Upper or lower case? Word length? Color?
 E.g. Zat
algobinoly
xone
 Phonemic = intermediate
 Sounds like?
 E.g. boo
zin
vex
 Semantic = deep
 Meaning? What objects or concept does the word represent?
 E.g. engine
block
oil
Figure 7.4 Levels-of-processing theory
Figure 7.5 Retention at three levels of processing
Enriching Encoding: Improving
Memory
 Elaboration = linking a stimulus to other
information at the time of encoding
 Thinking of examples like, “A phobia is an irrational fear.
Oh, it’s like the common fear of spiders!”
 Visual Imagery = creation of visual images to
represent words to be remembered
 Easier for concrete objects: Easier to remember
“metaphor” or “door” when these words are flashed onto a
screen?
 Dual-coding theory----Semantic codes + visual codes=
better memory
 Self-Referent Encoding
 Making information personally meaningful
 E.g. Do you remember every street you pass every day?

Do you remember the street your house is on?
[Packet] Dual Coding Practice
 The purpose of this activity is to practically
improve your memory for one of your classes.
 #1: Open your book to pg. 265.
 #2: Think of a class that is difficult memory-wise
for which you brought materials TODAY.
 #3: Generate a list of five terms from that class,
using a textbook or notebook. Preferably, they
should be from a single unit or chapter.
 #4: Write one of the following topics on an index card:
1.
English
2.
World History
3.
U.S. History
4.
Government
5.
Economics
6.
Algebra
7.
Geometry
8.
Other math
9.
Chemistry
10. IPC
11. Physics
12. Spanish
13. German
14. French
15. Latin
16. Elective
#4: Make a Frayer diagram for each of your 5 terms.
Synonym or
similar
concept/person
Definition
The distance
around a circle.
Perimeter
Circumference
Conference as in the
circumference around
the total number of
people at the
conference was very
large.
Illustration
Connect
sound and
meaning
(Spiral) Memory Storage
 Find definitions of the following
words using the Inside Out:
Memory video segment and your
book. Then incorporate each
main category (in red) and its
associated concepts into a
picture with labels. Use pgs. 266272 as a guide.
 Attention
 Short-term memory
 Rehearsal
 Limited capacity
storage
 Sensory memory
 7 plus or minus 2
 Sensory input
 Limited duration
 Afterimage
 Long-term memory
 Sperling’s Experiment
 Forgetting
(1960)
 Visual sensory store
 Failure of retrieval
[Packet] Memory Scenario
 Use pgs. 266-272 as a guide.
 Use the following key words to create a story in which you used
your memory for something within the past 24 hours:
 encoding,
 phonological loop (rehearsal),
 short-term storage,
 long-term storage,
 retrieval
 Your story must be at least 5-7 sentences long. It must be obvious
from your usage of the terms in the story that you know what the
terms mean.
Analogy
Limited-capacity
storage=flash drive or
CD (plug in to hard
drive)
Plato and Aristotle
compared memory to a
block of wax that
differed in size and
hardness for various
individuals…rememberin
g was like stamping an
impression into the
wax…
Storage: Maintaining Information in
Memory
 Information-processing theories
 Subdivide memory into 3 different stores
 Sensory, Short-term, Long-term
Figure 7.7 The Atkinson and Shiffrin
model of memory storage
Sensory Memory
Characteristics:
 Is brief preservation of information in original
sensory form
 Allows the sensation to linger briefly after the
sensory stimulation is over in the visual form
of an afterimage.
 Auditory/Visual SM – approximately ¼
second
Sensory Memory
Auditory/Visual SM
– approximately ¼
second
-George Sperling
(1960)
-Classic experiment
on visual
sensory store
-illustrating how brief the
sensory store actually
is…his experiment is
depicted in the following
figure.
Figure 7.8 Sperling’s (1960) study of sensory memory
Short Term Memory (STM)
 Definition: a limited-capacity store that can maintain
unrehearsed information for up to about 20 seconds.
 Limited capacity – magical number 7 plus or
minus 2
 Fact: The average person can hold 5-9 chunks of
information in STM.
 Chunking – grouping familiar stimuli for storage
as a single unit
 Open to pg. 269 for an example.
 E.g. 8 -6- 7- 5- 3- 0- 9 can be thought of as 7
individual numbers or they can be chunked
together in groups of 2, 3, etc.
STM Continued
 Limited duration – about 20 seconds
without rehearsal
 Rehearsal – the process of repetitively verbalizing
or thinking about the information
How quickly is information lost
without rehearsal?
[Packet] Working Memory Storage
 A new model of memory, called “working memory,” is a little different from the Atkinson
and Schifrin model that you just learned about.
 Use pg. 269 and 271 to find three pieces of specific
evidence that indicate a difference between short-term
memory storage and the working memory model.
Illustrate these differences in a t-chart. You will then
use these differences to construct a written response:
Short-term Memory
Working Memory
Group Teaching:
 You will receive a number 1-4. Your number
will correspond with a tool in the working
memory theory that you will then have to
research and verbally explain to 3 other group
members. You will receive a participation
grade for your focus/on-taskness.
1. Phonological rehearsal loop:
2. Visuospatial sketchpad:
3. Executive control system:
4. Episodic Buffer:
Working Memory
 Baddeley (1986) – 4 components of working memory
 Phonological rehearsal loop:

represented ALL of STM in the original model
 is active when one uses recitation to temporarily hold on to information.
 Visuospatial sketchpad:

allows temporary holding and manipulation of visual images
 E.g mentally rearrange the furniture in your bedroom
 Executive control system:

handles the limited amount of information juggled at one time as people
engage in reasoning and decision making
 E.g. weigh pros and cons of something, like should I go to Five Guys or
Arby's?
 Episodic Buffer:

a temporary, limited capacity store that allows the various components
of working memory to integrate information
 serves as an interface between working and LTM.
STM as “Working Memory”
 STM not limited to phonemic (sound) encoding, as was once
thought. It also involves visual and spatial material. EX. We can
temporarily hold images in our minds as well, like what the play will
look like once all of the football players are lined up.
 Loss of information not only due to decay (information getting old),
as was once thought. Interference of new information is also a factor.
In other words, recently-entering information confuses and even
changes other information we are temporarily storing. EX. Someone
in the room is talking about rabbits and someone else is talking
about tofu. You open your mouth to say something and “bunny Fofo”
comes out.
 Short-term memory only had 1 tool, whereas working memory has 4.
 Ex. You can keep things in short-term memory by repeating them,
but you can also see them in your mind (visuospatial sketchpad).
 Conclusion: STM is much more complicated than we originally
thought.
Continue “Working Memory Storage”
 Now turn your t-chart and group teaching experience
into a compare/contrast paragraph by answering this
question. How is the “working memory” model
different than regular short term memory? How is it
similar?
 In your answer, be sure to mention key content
vocabulary such as
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
durability and capacity of storage,
chunking,
the phonological rehearsal loop,
visuospatial sketchpad,
executive control system,
the episodic buffer
Flashbulb Discussion Piece
[Packet] Flashbulb Article Reflection
 CCSS Reading: informational
text, Speaking: discussion
 We will read the article on pg.
270-271. Draw a picture of a
flashbulb memory you have.
Then write a 10 sentence
experience that you have had
with this memory, including
why or why not you think
you’re remembering it
correctly. Color your picture if
you have time.
Introduction to
Memory
Organization
Memorize as
much of the
picture as you
can in 20
seconds
What do you remember?
 Was there a book shelf?
 Were there books?
 Was there a file cabinet?
 Was there a computer?
 Was there a desk?
Introduction to Memory Organization
Schema: This is a university professor’s office. What would
you expect to find that you don’t?
Long-Term Memory Organization
 The Key Question: How is information stored in longterm memory?
 Directions: Take a text walk using pgs. 269-275. Look at
bolded words, images, captions, titles, subtitles, first
lines of paragraphs, etc. As you peruse the text, do so
with the key question in mind, and pay specific attention
to these words:
1. Long term-memory
2. Clustering
3. Conceptual Hierarchies
4. Schemas
5. Semantic Networks
Analogy
Unlimited-capacity
long-term storage=
hard drive
Long-Term Memory: Unlimited
Capacity
 Permanent storage?
 (1) Flashbulb memories and (2) recall through
hypnosis
 LTM is indeed permanent. The only reason we forget is that we aren’t
able to access information that is still in LTM (interference theory).
 Not always accurate. Is the information still there? Does it decay over
time? Do we make up for this by building up decayed memories so that
they make sense?
Long-Term Memory: Unlimited
Capacity
 Debate: are STM and LTM really different?
 What we used to think:
 STM
 Phonemic
 Decay
vs.
vs.
LTM
Semantic encoding
Interference based
forgetting
 What we think now:
 STM
 Both
 ?, but maybe both
LTM
Both
?, but maybe both
 Emerging Theory: STM and LTM are the same thing.
STM is just a little part of LTM that is in a state of
heightened activation
How is Knowledge Represented
and Organized in Memory?
 Connectionist Networks and PDP Models
 Connectionist, or parallel distributed processing models, assume
that cognitive processes depend on patterns of activation in highly
interconnected computational networks that resemble neural
networks.
 Specific memories correspond to specific patterns of activation in
these networks.
How is Knowledge Represented
and Organized in Memory?
 Clustering
Giraffe

Ostrich
Clustering is the tendency to remember similar or related items in groups
(pg. 272)
 Conceptual Hierarchies:

Conceptual hierarchies are multilevel classification systems based on
common properties among items (pg. 273).
Zebra
Monkey
Parrot
Tree
snake
 Semantic Networks:

Semantic networks consist of nodes representing concepts, joined together
by pathways that link related concepts

E.g. thinking of butter makes bread easier to remember (see next slide).
How is Knowledge Represented
and Organized in Memory?
 Schemas and Scripts:

Schemas are organized clusters of knowledge about a particular object or
event abstracted from previous experience (see next slide)

A script is a particular type of schema, organizing what a person knows
about common activities

E.g. going to a restaurant.

Research shows that people are more likely to remember things that are
consistent with their schemas than things that are not…the reverse is also
true – people sometimes exhibit better recall if information really clashes
with a schema.
(see next slide)
[Packet] My Memory Organization
 You will be assigned a partner and one of the following 4 memory
organizational tools. You will create a visual representation.
1. Clustering (pg. 272, except put them in order)
Hydrogen
lead
carbon dioxide
Oxygen
silver
h2o
helium
gold
carbon monoxide
2. Conceptual Hierarchy (pg. 273)
preterit verbs
-ar verbs
-er verbs
-ir verbs
3. Schema(visual example of schema of professor’s office on pg. 273. Use words to make yours)
I’m getting ready to do a geometric proof. Things in my schema: theorems, the back of the
book, columns, if-then statements, diagrams, logic. First, I will identify the givens. I will
then note down the pertinent theorems.
4. Semantic Network
Organic
carbon
metabolic activity
life
animals
light
plants
[Packet] Retrieval Activity
 Listen to the story I’m going to read.
 Write a detailed summary of “War of the Ghosts.” Write
down everything you can remember.
 Read “War of the Ghosts” on pg. 276. Respond in a
paragraph to these questions: How accurate was your
summary? What did you add that wasn’t in the story?
What did you omit? What did you change? WHY? Use the
terms you learned in your reading to explain WHY!
 Read the Preview Questions on pg. 275.
 Read through pgs. 275-278. Answer the Preview Questions
in complete sentences on your paper while working with
an elbow partner. You may accountable for answering
them verbally in front of the class, so stay on task!
[Packet] Forgetting
1. Poor encoding:
2. Poor cues:
3. The Misinformation Effect:
4. Motivated Forgetting:
Leave ¼ page between each one!
We will do #1 together, and then split up #2,
#3, and #4!
What Causes Us To Forget, or to Fail to
Retrieve?
1. Poor encoding: when we encode information, it
must be in an attention-rich, multi-sensory
manner!
2. Poor cues: Word parts, people, or places that
help us remember
3. The Misinformation Effect: Memories that have
been changed (reconstructed) while the person is
recalling them. This happens from the power of
suggestion, interference, and decay.
4. Motivated Forgetting: Freud would call this
repression. We don’t want to remember.
Attention during memory retrieval enhances future remembering
NICOLE M. DUDUKOVIC, SARAH DUBROW, AND ANTHONY D. WAGNER
Stanford University, Stanford, California
Memory retrieval is a powerful learning event that influences whether an
experience will be remembered in the future. Although retrieval can succeed in
the presence of distraction, dividing attention during retrieval may reduce the
power of remembering as an encoding event. In the present experiments,
participants studied pictures of objects under full attention and then engaged in
item recognition and source memory retrieval under full or divided attention.
Two days later, a second recognition and source recollection test assessed the
impact of attention during initial retrieval on long-term retention. On this latter
test, performance was superior for items that had been tested initially under full
versus divided attention. More importantly, even when items were correctly
recognized on the first test, divided attention reduced the likelihood of
subsequent recognition on the second test. The same held true for source
recollection. Additionally, foils presented during the first test were also less likely
to be later recognized if they had been encountered initially under divided
attention. These findings demonstrate that attentive retrieval is critical for
learning through remembering.
1.
Poor Encoding
 Key Question: Should you listen to music
while you study?
 Go online and Google Search this topic! Be
sure to avoid blogs and wikis! You can even
use the document you received for finding
credible web sources.
 Find an answer from an actual study and
describe that study. Describe the results.
Write down which institution did the study
and the title of the website.
A section of the class will be assigned one of the topics below. Read about
or look up your section in the book or on the Internet. Then write a 5-6
sentence vignette about your topic which you will then share with the class.
2. Poor cues: Word parts, people, or places that help us remember
are only partially encoded or absent from our present
environment. See pgs. 275-6.
3. The Misinformation Effect: Memories that have been changed
(reconstructed) while the person is recalling them. This happens
from the power of suggestion, interference, and decay. See pgs.
276-8.
4. Motivated Forgetting: Freud would call this repression. We don’t
want to remember. But sometimes it’s hard to tell whose
motivated forgetting is real and who merely thinks it’s real. See
pgs. 282-6.
EXAMPLE: Bob is a physics student. While trying to memorize the formula for the
acceleration of gravity in his library cubicle, he is interrupted by a phone call. While
taking his test, he has a vague notion of what the formula is. It’s on “the tip of his
tongue,” but he can’t remember it and write it down. After the test, he walks into the
library and immediately remembers the formula.
 As people read their vignettes, summarize
them on your page!
If you want more information . . . Cornell
Notes: How do we retrieve information from
memory and why doesn’t it work sometimes?
 Key Points
 Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
 Notes
 Context
 Misinformation effect and
source monitoring
 Figure 7.17
 Recall vs recognition (Figure
7.19)
 Decay (Figure 7.18)
 Interference
 Motivated forgetting and
repressed memories
 Recovered memories and sexual
abuse
Summary:
pgs. 275-286
Retrieval: Getting Information
Out of Memory
 The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon – a
failure in retrieval
 Retrieval cues: The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon shows
that recall is often guided by partial information about a
word…retrieval cues.
 Recalling an event
 Context cues: Memories can also be reinstated by context
cues…easier to recall long-forgotten events if you return after a
number of years to a place where you used to live.
Retrieval: Getting Information
Out of Memory
 Reconstructing memories
 Misinformation effect: Research shows that memories
can be influenced by new information.
 Elizabeth Loftus: Eyewitness testimony can be influenced by
information presented to witnesses. Example…showed a video of
two cars in an accident…asked some people how fast the cars
were going when they HIT each other, asked others how fast the
cars were going when the SMASHED INTO each other…a week
later asked whether there was any broken glass in the video…the
“smashed into” group said yes, the “hit” group said no.
Retrieval: Getting Information
Out of Memory
 Source monitoring, reality monitoring
 The misinformation effect is explained in part by the unreliability of




source monitoring
Source monitoring: the process of making attributions about the
origins of memories
People make decisions at the time of retrieval about where their
memory is coming from. E.g. Cryptomnesia is inadvertent plagiarism
that occurs when you think you came up with it but were really
exposed to it earlier.
Reality monitoring : a type of source monitoring involving
determining whether memories are based in actual events (external
sources) or your imagination (internal sources)
E.g. Did I pack my lunch, or did I only think about packing it?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSFqWt
D3L7Y
Ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve for
nonsense syllables
Recognition vs. Recall with
nonsense syllables
Figure 7.17 Recognition versus recall in the measurement of retention
Why Do We Forget?
 Ineffective Encoding: primarily due to (1) lack of
attention or (2) phonemic or structural encoding instead of
semantic encoding
 Decay theory: forgetting occurs because memory traces
fade with time.
 Interference theory: The negative impact of competing
information on retention
 Proactive: previously learned information interferes with the
retention of new information
 Retroactive: new information impairs the retention for
previously learned information
Figure 7.19 Retroactive and proactive interference
Retrieval Failure
 Repression
 Authenticity of repressed memories?

Motivated forgetting of painful or unpleasant memories.

Surge of reports of repressed memories of child sexual abuse.

Empirical studies that show that it is not at all hard to create false memories
and that many recovered memories are actually the product of suggestion.
 Memory illusions- Roediger and McDermott (2000)

(1) Participants are asked to learn a list of words, (2) Another target word
that is not on the list but is strongly associated with the learned words is
presented
 Results: The subjects remember the non-presented target word over 50%
of the time…on a recognition test, they remember it about 80% of the time.
 Controversy

Research clearly shows that memories can be created by suggestion
 This issue becomes quite emotionally charged.
 Lack of data to estimate what proportion of recovered memories of abuse
are authentic and what proportion are not.
Figure 7.22 The prevalence of false memories observed by Roediger and McDermott (1995)
Concept Check 7.2 (pg. 283)
 1. Ineffective encoding due to lack of
attention. C
 2. Retrieval failure due to motivated
forgetting. F or A
 3. Proactive interference (previous learning
of Joe Cocker’s name interferes with new
learning) D
 4. Retroactive interferences (new learning of
sociology interferes with older learning of
history). E
[Packet] Kinds/Systems of Memory
 Write definitions and examples for the following kinds of
memory found on pgs. 290-292:
 declarative memory vs procedural memory;
 semantic memory vs episodic memory;
 prospective memory vs retrospective memory.
 Then we’ll play Silent Jeopardy
 Write your name on a piece of paper.
 As soon as you know the answer, write down your answer from one
of the four options and then stand up and raise your hand.
 The first three students to get a correct answer wins the question.
You will receive an extra reward if you can explain why that’s your
answer.
 Yelling out the answer will disqualify you, as will violating any of the
other rules.

[Packet] Personal Application: Improving
(1) Read pgs. 294-297 Everyday Memory
 (2) Write a paragraph summary of the article.
 (3) Make a memory SMART goal for memory improvement in one of your
classes using the methods named in the article.
Tools
 Specific: What specifically are you aiming to do in your class? Increase test
performance by a certain percentage?
 Measurable: What kind of data are you going to collect to determine
whether or not you’re meeting your goal?
 Attainable and Realistic: Can you really achieve this goal? It should make
you stretch, but it shouldn’t be impossible.

Timely: What time frame are you going to give yourself to accomplish this
goal? I suggest 1 week-1 month.
Example
By the Chapter 5 test, I will have rehearsed each equation 5 times by using the
key word method to solve 5 different problems. I will receive at least a B on
this test instead of my usual C.
I SKIPPED THIS ONE!
Retrieval Failure
 Encoding Specificity:
closer a retrieval cue is to the way
we encode the info, the better we are able to remember.
 E.g. How do you remember the Pythagorean Theorem? Do you
have a semantic link that will help you remember it? If not, you
won’t.
 Transfer-Appropriate Processing:
When the
initial processing of information is similar to the type of processing
required by the subsequent measure of retention, retrieval is easier.